Emma Timbery

Emma Timbery ( 1842 - 26 November 1916) was an Aboriginal Australian shellworker and matriarch. She was also known as the "Queen of the Illawarra", "Queen of La Perouse" or "Granny Timbery." Her shellwork became part of a family tradition that continues to the present day. Timbery was also a Christian convert and active in the Christian Endeavor Society in La Perouse. Timbery also acted as a cultural informant about her language, Dharawal.

Biography Timbery was born on the Georges River She spoke Dharawal and was originally known by her stepfather's last name, Lond or Lownds, who was a Dharug man and language informant. At the age of ten, she was taken to live with Mr. and Mrs. Edward Hill in Surry Hills, New South Wales. The couple had moved to La Perouse by 1882 where Timbery was able to make extra money creating shell baskets. In 1910, her shellwork was displayed in London.

Timbery was revered in the community, known as "Queen of La Perouse" or "Granny Timbery." and in the early 1900s, Timbery was elected as vice president of the Christian Endeavor Society branch in La Perouse. Timbery was close to missionary, Retta Dixon and the two women worked together. and was buried in Botany Cemetery. She left behind a long family legacy of arts with her grandson, Joseph Timbery, noted as a boomerang maker and women in her family continuing to do shellwork. Her great-granddaughter, Esme Russell, won awards for her shellwork.